Imagine what kind of person regularly posts on a subreddit about a physical tool that doesn't require much maintanence. Of course it's going to be the people that take it up as a personal hobby that are going to post - that isn't going to give you a representative sample of the average users. I've been using a mechanical keyboard for years now, and I've visited the sub maybe half a dozen times, and yet I enjoy the feel of my keyboards and they'll continue to make a small but significant improvement to my interactions with computers.

I'm sure a lot of this is out there, especially for young keyboard users. I'm middle age and I learned in grad school that a good mechanical keyboard could save my fingers. I personally went from finger pain to no finger pain, and have been good since. YMMV of course

If you are a cook, spending a ton of money on a knife that cuts well, is balanced and — most importantly — you like to use is totally common and normal. A cheap kitchen knife from ikea probably would also work for them — but this is what they interact with, so spending money there is totally reasonable.

People on this site probably interact with computers much more than the average person, and many type stuff into their machines for the majority of their days. I don't see why it wouldn't make sense to get yourself something decent that feels good to interact with there.

Tiny annoyances multiplied by a hundred times a day, 365 days a year add up. And even if it is only that slightly mushy Ctrl key or that spacebar where the right stabilizer is weird because the thing fell off the desk once.

For me a mechanical keyboard must be sturdy, heavy, with no flex of any kind. Preferable with black linear/silent switches, something that you can punch in hard or type completely silent if needed. Not a piece of plastic that moves around on the desk.

Maybe the fact that I am playing musical instruments (and work in audio) plays a role here. Tactile feedback is very important to me. I don't need a click, just very predictable and reliable responses that don't distract me when I am in the flow. I need a keyboard that can be silent if I need it to be silent.

That alone (for me) justifies spending more money than usual people would spend on a keyboard. It is not hobby to me, it is a tool. But a tool I enjoy using and that works for my use case. Sure I could use any other keyboard. But I don't have to, so why would I?

> Tiny annoyances multiplied by a hundred times a day, 365 days a year add up.

A year ago I lost a lot of free time and realized how much crap I was unnecessarily putting up with. I've started trying to upgrade the tools that give me the most friction, and many times it's been surprisingly inexpensive for the benefit gained. I bought one decent keyboard and mouse that can switch between multiple devices, replaced my terrible second monitor with one that has better viewing angles, and took in my kitchen knives to have them sharpened. There are (obviously) still many annoyances during the course of a day, but there's just a little less overhead involved in getting work done.

I agree with nearly all of the points you made, and I am a similar linear switch user. It is a sturdy, reliable input device. But even though I'm not a chef, I still cook for myself and I want sturdy, reliable tools there as well. Maybe I don't need the largest array of knives, but the ones i choose should make my life easier, not possibly have the knife equivalent of a squishy membrane key.

> most users ignore backlighting because it limits the cute keycap sets they can use

What's the advantage of backlighting? I don't need to look at my keyboard to type.

I have a number of the Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL that has a backlight, I use them on keyboards for computers at theatrical (stage) shows. No need to turn on a light that may get noticed by the audience to see where the keyboard is or to find your place on it.

And some people do not 100% touch type, or don't touch type in the strict way everyone expects all touch typists to do so.

To type, sure. But what if you want to press a more obscure button like F7 or Print Screen? Also helps for games where your fingers aren't always in the standard ASDF position and you're still learning the keybindings.

i have a moonlander keyboard that’s programmable. certain keys can trigger layer shifts, and backlighting helps me know which layer i’m on.

I'm pretty confused about your comment and all the replies. Do you all not have lights? I can see my keyboard just fine without backlighting. Not wanting backlighting has nothing to do with whether I need to look at my keyboard or not. I just think it's ugly (which is just a preference, totally fine for people to like it).

Yes, controlling your lighting situation is certainly a good solution. For me, even though I don't compute in the dark I do keep the ambient light pretty dim. I get sick of squinting at the keys.

If you've memorized `~!@#$%^&*()-_=+[{]}\|;:'",<.>/? then yeah, you don't need a backlight. I've memorized some, but certainly not all.

Yup, I've got no problem with hobbies. I have a friend who keeps a closet full of sneakers he'll never wear, and quite often I'll go days without calling him a weirdo ;-)

It just gets weird when people start into these audiophile-like arguments for the superiority of their choice. I've owned a number of mechanical and membrane keyboards since my first computer in 1983, and there's no real benefit to either except for aesthetics and how it feels to you personally.

I totally agree. Membrane keyboards are 100% fine. In fact, back in the 90s I was a bit turned off by the cacophonous IBM keyboards and considered the shift toward rubber domes as a luxury. We've come full circle.